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The differences between child life specialists and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a child life specialist and a certified medical technician. Additionally, a child life specialist has an average salary of $55,201, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for a child life specialist include patients, child development and patient care. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Child Life Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $55,201 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $26.54 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 90,517 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
The job of a child life specialist is to help children and their families navigate the process of injury, illness, trauma, hospitalization, and disability. These health care professionals perform varied duties that include helping children and their families better understand the procedure and process of their medical experience. They also work on developing strategies to lessen the trauma and improve their understanding of a diagnosis by providing support, guidance, and information to family members. They are also expected to work closely with other members of the health care team in coordinating and managing care.
Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.
Child life specialists and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Child Life Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $55,201 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $96,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | L.E.K. Consulting | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a child life specialist and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Child Life Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Nursing |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between child life specialists' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Child Life Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.8% | Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |